
What to Make 

And how to sell it 


By Helen Schuyler 



COPYRIGHT 1923 

THE CROWELL PUBLISHING COMPANY 

381 FOURTH AVENUE 
NEW YORK 






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Choosing a Business 


O UR concern in this booklet is to 
help the many women who “make 
something” to choose the best 
way of distributing the fruit of their 
toil. There are hundreds of clever 
people ready with ideas and deft with 
their hands, who are manufacturing 
worthily, but we seldom hear from 
them because the little home business 
does not grow or prosper as it should. 
Why not? For the reason that nine 
times out of ten, amateurs choose the 
wrong manner in which to put their 
produce on the market. 

Few of us realize that choosing a 
business is like planting a garden, and 
just as different varieties of seed thrive 
in different soils, so do certain kinds 
of enterprise flourish in certain en¬ 
vironments. The flowers that bloom 
for others may not even bud for us, 
because conditions are not the same. 
The help outsiders can impart is lim¬ 
ited, for who knows the local garden 
better than ourselves? 

I remember quite well the words of 
a good business friend, consulted in the 
early days regarding a rather knotty 
problem. “Advice I can give you,” he 
said, “and information I will give you. 
But don’t take my advice; merely ab¬ 
sorb the facts and stand on your own 
feet if you would learn to walk!” 

And so it happened in my own case 
that, after collecting as many facts as 
possible, I sorted out the information 
as seemed best, and started on my first 
venture contrary to all advice and tra¬ 
dition. The advice did not apply to 
my particular problem, but the infor¬ 
mation was decidedly useful, and 
helped me lay a solid foundation to a 
truly successful trade. 

Three Ways of Selling 

A ND now suppose you manufacture 
a delicious jam, an original toy, or 
delightful handmade babies’ dresses, 
how should you propose to sell your 
product? 

Roughly speaking, there are three 
distinct methods which the manufac¬ 
turer should consider before entering 
the trade world, and these are: the 
wholesale business, the retail shop, and 
the mail order catalogue. Each of 
these schemes of business has its fas¬ 
cination, and individually they are 
more or less adapted to our various na¬ 
tures as well as to different localities. 

Suppose you manufacture handmade 
babies’ dresses, and there is no chance 


to dispose of such luxuries in the neigh¬ 
borhood where you live, what course 
should you pursue? Let us further 
suppose circumstances prevent your 
moving to a different environment. 
What then? 

The wise decision is to accept condi¬ 
tions as they are, and make the best of 
them. There is for you the wholesale 
idea, a very fascinating game, and one 
that I myself fancy above all others. It 
can generally be played at home, and 
the home can be anywhere under the 
sun! If you live in a good-sized city, 
in a district well away from the prin¬ 
cipal business area, you may yet at¬ 
tract the wholesale buyer who, lured 
by your very inaccessibleness, hopes 
this same obscurity will yield him 
something new, that “something dif¬ 
ferent” not to be found in every other 
shop in town. 

The Backwoods Business 

T HE woman who lives in the coun¬ 
try in an isolated spot has a splen¬ 
did chance at wholesale, but she prob¬ 
ably must use less direct methods, and 
dispose of her merchandise through an 
agent or jobber. The goods must be 
sold to this middleman at lower cost, 
but one can afford such a reduction, as 
the expenses of advertising, salesmen, 
office and display room are eliminated. 
With such an arrangement the entire 
factory output may be shipped direct- 
to one agent. 

Sometimes an astute„business woman 
moves out of town. A case in kind 
was brought to my attention only re¬ 
cently. A young artist, living in two 
small city rooms, designed and manu¬ 
factured some gay and delightful straw 
porch cushions which she soon found 
sold extremely well. But the greater 
her sales grew, the more impossible 
became the barn-like litter in her small 
apartment; a city girl had obviously 
struck a country proposition! Renting 
more space would have increased her 
overhead expenses, and thereby raised 
the cost of her merchandise, so with a 
nice understanding of business prin¬ 
ciples, she has gone to the country to 
live. There, with twice the room at 
half the rent, she has made herself 
comfortable, and at the same time ma¬ 
terially raised her profits. 

The woman who chooses the whole¬ 
sale line will nearly always find her 
associates pleasing and agreeable to 
deal with. The trained business buyer. 


l 


whoever he may be, spends one-sixth 
as much time deciding what to select, 
as does the retail customer who dallies 
fastidiously all the morning over an 
unimportant item. He settles his ac¬ 
count between ten and thirty days, or 
he is not worth your consideration. A 
retail bill may drag on indefinitely, 
unless the shop in question is run on 
a cash basis. 

The Retail Shop 

L ET us now make a survey of the 
retail proposition and study the 
opportunity it offers. What is most 
necessary for success? First: there 
must be a public near at hand who will 
be interested in your produce. Take 
for example these same handmade chil¬ 
dren’s dresses that are comparatively 
expensive, and ask yourself if a suffi¬ 
cient number of people in your town 
or city will afford such luxuries? If 
the answer is yes, next consider 
whether other shops in this particular 
line of business are already absorbing 
the trade, and if so, can you compete? 

If you plan a retail country business, 
the attractive cottage located on a well 
patronized motor highway, should be 
considered as seriously as the little 
shop on “Main Street.” A passing 
trade means cash payments, and sum¬ 
mer enterprises of this kind may usu¬ 
ally steer clear of the petty little ac¬ 
counts customers like to maintain. 

There are other considerations that 
often make the retail our choice of 
business. The woman who manufac¬ 
tures a rag doll at relatively high cost, 
may lower the selling price of her toy 
by disposing of it direct to the con¬ 
sumer. There are many beautiful and 


desirable handmade articles that can¬ 
not stand the profit of the middleman, 
and the only hope for their existence 
is to make them saleable by cutting 
expenses in this way. The home manu¬ 
facturer, with a little shop as an outlet, 
may compete with and often undersell 
the big stores whose merchandise 
passes through too many hands. This 
secret should be the basis of numerous 
little enterprises all over the country. 
It is becoming apparent that the femin¬ 
ine sex is as admirably suited to this 
style of business, as the business is 
to them. For those who wish to take 
it up, there is a “Companion” booklet 
called “Through the Gift Shop Door,” 
price seventy-five cents. 

The Part Time Proposition 

M ANY of us are handicapped by the 
fact that while we have time on 
our hands, and available space in our 
residences, these same homes cannot 
be turned upside down for business 
purposes. In such cases, there is noth¬ 
ing more suitable than the mail order 
ousiness, for besides preserving privacy 
and independence it is a project that 
can camp out where it pleases, and 
city, country, farm or prairie make 
no difference, for it means a mail ad¬ 
dress only. There is no reason why 
the manufacturer of some little line 
should not successfully retail her goods 
through the medium of the catalogue. 
The same maker of jams, toys or 
babies’ dresses can exploit her mer¬ 
chandise in this manner and sell direct 
to the consumer. A simple illustrated 
folder is not unduly expensive, and 
reasonably sized contracts in one or 
two retail magazines will cover the 





















bulk M her investment. Such a ven¬ 
ture started in a small way would 
probably grow more slowly than either 
the retail or wholesale trades, but re¬ 
member, it can be a part-time job con¬ 
ducted on very conservative prin¬ 
ciples. 

The rural housekeeper is well versed 
in the uses of the helpful little cata¬ 
logues sent her periodically from city 
stores. It is a good business proposi¬ 
tion. Why do not country folk turn 
things about and supply their city 
cousins with something they can’t do 
without? 

For the ambitious, energetic ama¬ 
teur, the question immediately arises, 
why not try a combination of these 
three business methods? And the an¬ 
swer is, don’t attempt too much at 
first; start small and do one thing well. 
When you have learned the ropes, ex¬ 
tend and spread if you like. It is very 
profitable to grow, but extremely ex¬ 
pensive to shrink! There is every rea¬ 
son in the world why eventually the 
retail shop should have its mail order 
catalogue; and many a wholesale deal¬ 
er finds it expedient to maintain a di¬ 
rect outlet with the retail trade. Keep 
these opportunities in mind, but con¬ 
serve strength and capital for the ini¬ 
tial attempt. 

Selling Ideas 

B UT perhaps yours is a proposition 
that cannot possibly be manufac¬ 
tured in a home factory, in which case 
it must be treated as an idea and sold 
on the royalty basis. But remember 
this: while there are certain things 
that ought to be disposed of in this 
way, the average woman who manu¬ 
factures her own idea will probably 
reap a far greater reward than her sis¬ 
ter who waves good-bye to an original 
creation, and is satisfied with the usual 
per cent. For the beginner who has 
originated something new, my advice 
is: get to work and put it on the mar¬ 
ket yourself. It is your idea, your 
child: who will push it with more in¬ 
terest than yourself? The idea sent 
forth on a royalty basis is like the or¬ 
phan in the institution — nobody’s 
child: and kind though the board of 
managers may be, their interests are 
necessarily divided. Don’t make an 
orphan of your idea if you can help it. 
Nourish it, cherish it, even in a small 
way, and see it grow! 

What characteristics should we have 
to enter the business world? For a 
partner I would ask the courageous, 
energetic, independent person regard¬ 
less of talents; someone who will roll 


up her sleeves and push, and be willing 
and ready in any emergency; above all, 
someone who believes in the dignity of 
labor, and is proud of her job—for it is 
this attitude that counts. 

“Where do you think most beginners 
fail in business?” a successful man was 
asked the other day. 

“They fail to get started,” was his 
astounding reply. “They balk at the 
first fence, and never get into the game 
at all.” 

Getting in Touch 

T HE first problem of getting in touch 
with business is one of the hardest 
things amateurs have to contend with. 
It is like the opening round of a tour¬ 
nament which eliminates the unfit. 
“Getting in touch” is finding a market, 
procuring addresses, learning where to 
advertise, from whom to buy materials, 
and the thousand and one questions 
that come to our minds and discourage 
us before we make the initial effort. 
Are you acquainted with your own 
Main Street? Have you talked to the 
proprietor of your local store? He will 
be glad to pass on several ideas if you 
are in earnest, only don’t interrupt him 
in the busy hours when customers are 
waiting to be served. Are you using 
your village library to the best advan¬ 
tage, and do you know the willing little 
librarian behind the desk? Have you 
the bulletin board habit, or is it your 
custom to pass by these gold mines of 
information at the door of public build¬ 
ings? Do you take a big city paper, 
and read what is going on in the 
world? 

The best daily news^you are able to 
buy should be your silent partner, al¬ 
though probably none of the informa¬ 
tion valuable to you will be found in 
big print on the front page. Try just 
oree looking at a Sunday and weekly 
edition from the business point of view, 
and cut out everything that might be 
of trade interest. You will have a 
neat little pile at the end of a diverting 
half hour, if I am not mistaken. If 
you pursue your search long enough, 
you will find notices of the big whole¬ 
sale exhibitions; the annual meeting 
of the Greeting Card Association, or 
the Toy Fair “for the trade only” to 
be held at such and such a hotel. 

Go carefully; but do not fail to plant 
your business garden. Time and sea¬ 
sons wait for no one, and few pleasures 
eoual that of seeing one’s own enter¬ 
prise blossom forth and grow. Women’s 
careers reach out wider every year: 
may it be your fortune to plant a mile¬ 
stone one step further on the road. 


3 


What to Make 


F EW people realize there is just as 
much satisfaction in originating a 
well-designed toy or cleverly-con¬ 
ceived novelty as there is in illustrat¬ 
ing a book. 

If you are an artist, no matter how 
inexperienced, you have creative imag¬ 
ination. Rack your brains for some¬ 
thing new, not necessarily a perfectly 
new idea but a new design for an old 
idea. 

Surely you have made a rag doll for 
somebody’s baby, dinner cards for the 
Thanksgiving dinner, that were “just 
a little different,” or something for the 
fancy-goods table that sold particularly 
well at the village fair. All these were 
ideas, and would be breadwinners if 
you knew how to use them, and that 
is what I am going to tell you. 

The strange part of ideas is that, 
after you have had one, maybe two, you 
think it impossible ever to think up 
another. But it is just the reverse— 
you get in the way of having ideas, 
and they are more and more practical 
every time. They say the fish in Mam¬ 
moth Cave grow blind because they 
don’t use their eyes. Maybe it is the 
same with our thoughts. 

Something for the Men 

T RY taking some simple and useful 
object which is in every home, 
such as a pair of scissors or a ball of 
twine, and see what you can do with 
it. One very ingenious person—I think 
it was a woman—originated the Twine 
Holder Lady. Primarily, this novelty 
was well designed, the colors bright 
and carefully chosen but that was 
certainly not 
enough to make 
the Lady’s for¬ 
tune. Like the gii l 
with the pretty 
face, she had to 
“say something” 
besides. She could 
and did say, “Here 
is the cord! ” 

There has never 
been a place for a 
ball of cord in the 
home, and while a 
lady's waist seems 
hardly the proper 
location for such 
a commodity it is 
a fact startling 
enough to make it 
findable as well 
a s unforgetable. 


Some generally useful article, and a 
unique place to find it! There is a 
thought to work on at once. 

There cilivays is a crying need for 
something new for men. You would 
know this yourself, had you thought 
about it, from the very fact that most 
of your shopping difficulties are for 
the opposite sex. You yourself create 
the trade demand. What the retail 
buyer w r ants, the manufacturer is look¬ 
ing for. 

If anyone, even the best buyer in the 
country (and by that I mean wholesale 
buyer) could tell at first glance whether 
or not an object would be successful, 
he would not be human. They all 
have their preferences, and they all 
make mistakes, but we never hear of 
the ones that fail. 

What the Babies Want 

UST at present the soft,liuggable toy 
is tremendously in vogue. The rag 
doll, considered old-fashioned by our 
mothers, has come back into its own. 
Remember, toys must be practical. If 
you can’t paint your rag doll with col¬ 
ors guaranteed not to come off, so the 
baby may suck it with impunity, don’t 
paint it at all. 

Colors, too, are most important, espe¬ 
cially in the infants’ department. Pink 
and blue for babies, of course. And you 
icill sell more pink than blue.' The 
shade should be “just so”—a nice, clear, 
but delicate, color, the color you would 
like to see in a child's nursery. There 
are reasons for everything in the busi¬ 
ness world if we only take the trouble 
to stop and think. Why should din¬ 
ner favors be more 
popular in either 
yellow or pink? 
Consider how few 
luncheons you 
have been to 
where the table 
decorations were 
either blue or lav¬ 
ender, and you 
will have your an¬ 
swer. Yellow and 
pink flowers are 
far oftener used 
than not, for na¬ 
ture seems to sup¬ 
ply more of them, 
and the little 
place cards or 
favors should 
carry out the col¬ 
or scheme. 



^•Nildrad Cou^hlm. 

Take something useful and see ichat 
you can do with it. 


4 


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Protecting Your Ideas 


T HE novice, who has by 
chance or intention hit 
upon some original idea or de¬ 
sign, naturally wants to pro¬ 
tect her creation before plac¬ 
ing it on the market. She 
instinctively turns to patents 
as a simple way out of all 
difficulties, and indeed many 
of us are under the erroneous 
impression that these rights, 
once bought and paid for, eliminate in 
some mysterious way all danger of in¬ 
fringement and end our responsibilities. 

I nfortunately this is not the case, 
and while a patent is a very necessary 
and desirable tool to have at our dis¬ 
posal, like the sign “No Trespassing,” 
it must be backed up with a watch dog 
and usually by a man with a gun be¬ 
sides! If your idea is a good one, there 
will be infringements just as surely as 
night follows day, and a trbublesome 
proof of our creative worth is the in¬ 
evitable trail of unscrupulous imitators 
that follow in our original footsteps. 

Guarding inventions by means of 
patents is an expensive proceeding’, but 
do it by all means if it will give you 
protection. Nine times out of ten, how¬ 
ever, a copyright is the help you are 
looking for, and this inexpensive and 
less involved method of safeguarding 
your interest is a simple proceeding 
well worth everybody’s while. 

What Is Patentable? 

ROADLY speaking, a patentable ob¬ 
ject is anything new and original 
in construction. For example, the toy 
train with an ingenious arrangement 
of wheels; the doll that, helped by a 
clever spring, nods its head and waves 
an arm; or any new contrivance such 
as the popular snap fastener comes 
within this category. Contrasted to 
these are numerous ideas which may 
be classed as artistic designs, and the 
woman who wastes her time and sub¬ 
stance obtaining expensive and unne¬ 
cessary protection for such objects is 
foolish indeed, when a copyright should 
suffice. Yet a surprising number of 
people are led to believe that the de¬ 
sign for a stenciled table cover or bed¬ 
spread should be patented, and they 
feel equally certain that their rag doll 
(which is but a slight variation or 
every other rag doll) is deserving of 
a series of imposing papers from 
Washington. 

Our enthusiasm and ardor (and 


sometimes our lawyers) lead 
us into this unnecessary ex¬ 
travagance. Indeed, my first 
instinct was “protection at 
any cost,” and the deep-rooted 
feeling that the professional 
man in the office building was 
the person above all others to 
give me advice has only grad¬ 
ually been replaced by a more 
independent turn of mind. 

Out of more than fifty ideas that I 
have placed on the market, but one was 
patented, while the greater part of the 
balance was covered by copyrights 
alone. 

Copyrights and Trade Marks 

E XPERIENCE teaches us wisdom in 
these matters, and the big manu¬ 
facturer, who has actually worked out 
his own protective problems, knows 
the value of a bit of legal paper and 
will give you the most disinterested 
advice. Perhaps he emphasizes too 
forcibly his favorite slogan that “quan¬ 
tity production at the lowest possible 
price” is the cheapest and best way to 
discourage imitators, but while these 
are words of wisdom, you will find he 
safeguards himself in other ways, too. 

Some clever business men prefer to 
use trade marks rather than patents or 
copyrights as a means of defense, and 
again they adopt them as an additional 
way of protecting these same interests^ 
The trade mark possesses the further 
merit of “sales value,” foxmerchandise 
which custom decrees must not be 
stamped with the name of “E. & G. 
Smith Manufacturers” may yet bear 
this same firm’s symbol—a wheel, a 
shield, or triangle, etc. (see above). 
The professional buyer can read these 
signs as the Indian guide reads the 
trail, and the factory that misses this 
opportunity of disclosing to the trade 
its “mark” is neglecting a little nicety 
that is well worth while. 

Fanciful trade names of firms or 
goods should always be registered, but 
this is a small matter easily accom¬ 
plished without outside assistance. All 
necessary papers for patents, copy¬ 
rights, and trade marks must be filed 
at Washington, D. C., and application 
may be made and correspondence ad¬ 
dressed to the government offices of 
this district direct. One should be able 
to fill out copyright papers without ad¬ 
vice, but patents are more complicated 
and often professional help is needed. 




5 


If You Choose Wholesale 


T HERE is nothing more flexible 
than the wholesale factory, for it 
may be any size, any shape, and 
anywhere. Unlike the retail business, 
it can start in humble, undesirable sur¬ 
roundings, or miles away from a trade 
center. This in itself makes it a dream 
that most of us can realize. Compara¬ 
tively few women manufacture and sell 
their produce on anything but a small 
scale, but there is a tremendous field 
open to this kind of business all over 
the country. Perhaps a few hints will 
help the uninitiated to start right on 
a most interesting journey. 

The first query of the would-be manu¬ 
facturer is usually: “How much capital 
must I invest?” and without a thor¬ 
ough knowledge of the business con¬ 
templated, as well as a complete under¬ 
standing of assets and conditions in 
each individual case, this is a question 
impossible to answer. Generally speak¬ 
ing, you can start as small as you 
please and invest very little. The wise 
manufacturer with but a meager fund 
to draw from, economizes in location 
and factory space as well as the num¬ 
ber of employees, and excessive adver¬ 
tising. She reserves her funds for get¬ 
ting customers and buying materials 
with which to fill accepted orders. 
When trade begins to grow and more 
cash is needed with which to expand, 
the manufacturer will see her way 
clear to supplying the immediate need. 

orders than you can afford to 
fill” isS> healthy sign which no good 
business woman should fear. 

Your Raw Materials 

A ND now suppose you have con¬ 
cluded to manufacture a toy, can¬ 
dy, furniture, bungalow aprons or bed¬ 
spreads, decide to make one kind of 
thing only and do it well. Let your 
factory, for instance, be a bedspread 
factory, with the possible bureau and 
table covers to match, and nothing else. 
There will be time to broaden later but 
at first the beginner has enough to 
learn about bedspreads to keep her 
busy more hours than are in a working 
day. 

The importance of keeping your line 
manufactured of few materials can’t 
be over emphasized. It will greatly de¬ 
crease the cost of production and les¬ 
sen the amount of capital involved, 
besides saving infinite time and trouble. 
Bed covers, all made of unbleached 


muslin in different designs and colors, 
are an example of what I mean. Later 
you can add more unbleached muslin 
articles to your line, but long before 
you are ready to do this the advantage 
of keeping the factory “simple” will be 
readily appreciated and understood. 

To locate the proper mill or the right 
person with whom to deal is not par¬ 
ticularly easy, but it can be accom¬ 
plished no matter how far away from 
the source of supply you live. I found 
nearly all my factory addresses through 
a business directory or classified busi¬ 
ness telephone book. Let a good city 
directory be your first purchase. Then 
roll up your sleeves and write a great 
many letters in search of samples and 
advantageous prices. You should sub¬ 
scribe without delay to at least one 
good trade journal that deals in your 
line, and when the magazine comes 
read it from cover to cover. Rest as¬ 
sured there is a publication printed 
that advertises exactly the commodity 
you are looking for. 

Purchasing Wisely 

Y OUR selling prices will depend on 
the answers the postman brings in 
the morning’s mail, and until you have 
those prices the spreads must mark 
time—don’t make the mistake of put¬ 
ting anything on the market without a 
careful try-out. 

When you receive the data concern¬ 
ing spreads, you will probably be sur¬ 
prised to learn what a great quantity 
of material you must order from the 
mill to take advantage of rock-bottom 
prices. For this reason it is well to 
buy your first goods from a jobber or 
middleman, who will sell you at a 
slightly higher cost the same material 
in smaller quantities. It is far better 
for beginners to be satisfied with a low¬ 
er profit, than to gamble and find them¬ 
selves too heavily stocked in raw ma¬ 
terials. You would be amazed to know 
how carefully great and wealthy houses 
consider risks of this sort, and theirs 
is a sound method to follow. 

The small manufacturer often waits 
to purchase raw materials until at least 
part of the orders are on hand. Here 
is one of the greatest factory problems. 
Raw materials may increase in price, 
and you will find yourself bound to de¬ 
liver at a figure that leaves little or no 
profit. For this kind of trading the 
market must he watched daily and some 


G 


leeway must be left for an instantane¬ 
ous rise. The wise manufacturer keeps 
just enough ahead of her orders to 
make safe and prompt deliveries pos¬ 
sible, but her job is not an easy one. 
Close touch must be kept with the offi¬ 
cial record of the stock room (be sure 
you keep a record), as well as a daily 
familiarity with the customers’ order 
file in the office. 

Computing the Cost 

T HERE is no better way to begin 
your career than to write these 
first business letters properly, legibly 
and always in ink or typed. It is sur¬ 
prising to learn how many people send 
illegible penciled scrawls. A secretary 
I once employed insisted that such let¬ 
ters weren’t worth answering—that it 
meant either no order or poor pay. 
While she could not be humored to the 
extent of allowing this part of the cor¬ 
respondence to be neglected, still I 
must admit her theory proved correct! 

It is well to know what great impres¬ 
sions little things make, and it is so 
simple to master the proper forms of 
address. Let first orders always con¬ 
tain your trade references; the good 
business woman would not think of 
sending an order without establishing 
her credit and the omission of this de¬ 
tail only means more correspondence 
on both sides and a serious loss of 
time. Further information about this 
is given on page 8. If you cannot give 
satisfactory references, goods must be 
expected C. O. D., or, what is more 
likely, payment in advance. 

The first shipment of goods that 
you receive should mean a great 
deal to you, for here is an opportunity 

of observing 
how other 



Don't throw information away 
—file it! From the very factory 
whose terms you reject to-day 
you may he demanding by wire 
a rush order to-morrow. 


send and invoice their shipments. 

When your materials are finally put 
to work, watch the time and cost of the 
making very carefully, for the spread 
must be priced. Count your time as 
wages, and be sure to include in the 
overhead all the hundred and one little 
things that help eat up the profit. There 
is rent, insurance, telephone, light, ad¬ 
vertising and heat; big things we are 
apt to remember but the little things 
count up very rapidly too, and station¬ 
ery, stamps, packing and shipping are a 
big item on the books. Just the cost of 
twine alone even in a small business 
comes to a big yearly sum. 

If the factory or office is located in 
your home, a portion of the yearly rent 
should be carried by the business. Pay 
yourself a salary as well, even if it be 
a small one. If this brings the cost of 
merchandise up rather high, be lenient 
at first with these expenses. However, 
keep the principle in mind for it is 
right and proper that rent and salary 
should have their decided influence on 
wholesale prices. 

Keeping Down Overhead 

E VERY possible precaution must be 
taken to keep the overhead ex¬ 
penses down to a reasonable figure, for 
here is the trap that catches the un¬ 
wary and ruins what appears to be a 
thriving business. There are always 
ways of reducing expenses that should 
be considered by the wise business wo¬ 
man. It is often advisable, for in¬ 
stance, to accept an order in wl 
there is little profit, provhj^d^fhese 
goods can be manufacturecTin a slack 
season when time heed not be taken 
from more lucrative trade. Even if 
your work room is idle, light, heat and 
other big items continue. Therefore, 
an order which will little 
more than cover the over¬ 
head and prices of ma¬ 
terials and labor is well 
worth considering. 

There is no more vital 
portion of your business 
than the financial depart¬ 
ment. Let your system be 
a simple one but begin at 
once, and make your en¬ 
tries day by day. Clear the 
desk of all correspondence 
at closing time every after¬ 
noon; letters should be an¬ 
swered and all communica¬ 
tions filed. Paucity of cor¬ 
respondence at first makes 
this seem unnecessary ad¬ 
vice, but be assured this 


7 













simple state of things won’t last. 

Start your system of files at once, bill 
files, letter files, and card index. Don’t 
throw information away, and remem¬ 
ber, the factories whose quotations you 
reject today may be able to serve you 
advantageously a few weeks hence, and 
you will be glad to have their data at 
hand for reference. 

Credit and Cash 

E STABLISH your business credit be¬ 
fore going any further, and to do 
this, call on the local banker and talk 
matters over with him very frankly. 
If you are not already rated, get in 
touch with a credit agency as soon as 
possible (the bank can advise you), 
and be prepared to submit references 
as to your financial status when the 
necessity occurs. 

Probably most of the bills you re¬ 
ceive will be payable monthly. How¬ 
ever, firms differ in this respect, and 
sometimes as much as ninety days’ 
credit is allowed. It is the wholesale 
custom to offer a discount for payments 
made inside of ten days; usually 2 per 
cent of the total amount, but frequent¬ 
ly more, and when the terms are not 
stated on the billheads it is your place 
to find out what discount may be 
claimed. Always make the deduction 
if it is financially possible; good busi¬ 
ness women seldom fail to take advan¬ 
tage of this clause. In arranging the 
financial department of your business 
you will probably decide to offer cus¬ 
tomers these same favorite terms, 2 
per cent ten days, 30 days net, and it 
won’t be long before you class prompt 
payers among the A number one ac¬ 
counts. 

Just as you had to establish your 
financial credit before opening an ac¬ 
count, so must the prospective buyer 
do with you. It is a business proced¬ 
ure that must be conformed to, and 
the smaller the customer and more in¬ 
significant the order, the more import¬ 
ant the matter becomes. Usually there 
is little capital back of such projects, 
and you must not ship goods without 
looking into the matter carefully. Sub¬ 
scribe to a credit agency; they have 
representatives in the smallest towns 
who will procure ratings besides fur¬ 
nishing you with important informa¬ 
tion. If suitable credit cannot be estab¬ 
lished, do as you will be done by—ship 
only on receipt of payment in advance. 
With the utmost care, now and then a 
slip will occur and a bill will be un¬ 
collectable. The small customer likes 
to refer you to two or three firms with 


whom he does business, and all three 
of these firms may reply to your in¬ 
quiries with the confidential informa¬ 
tion “prompt pay.” But has it occurred 
to you, these three firms may be paid 
promptly while other concerns wait 
indefinitely for the same customer's 
settlement? In other words, they re¬ 
ceived their remittances at once in 
order to establish a good reference. 
Many little dodges mislead the novice. 
Often if you come in personal contact 
with a business man or woman, you 
will intuitively sense “something 
wrong.” Don’t go against this feeling 
—you are not a mind reader, and in¬ 
stinct is not taking care of you, but 
undoubtedly some little thing has been 
said or done that has made a bad im¬ 
pression and subconsciously the fact 
has been registered. I remember ex¬ 
periencing the sensation after receiv¬ 
ing a large order from a house that of¬ 
fered excellent references. It made me 
so uncomfortable that I spoke of it to 
a business man who called at my office 
on that particular day. “Hold up the 
order,” he said, “or send it collect. 
Don't go against your intuition .” It 
was good advice and he was well 
thanked for it later, for the firm went 
bankrupt in the spring! 

When we see how much trouble and 
expense is involved in opening an ac¬ 
count, we see why it is not reasonable 
to ask a firm to charge five or ten dol¬ 
lars’ worth of goods. Cash payments 
should be made for small orders. It 
is the wholesaler’s privilege to decide 
how small this sum may be and you 
should consider the matter carefully 
before making your terms. Sample or¬ 
ders are usually accompanied by 
checks. 

Your Factory 

B EFORE signing a contract for 
workroom and office space, look 
carefully into the fire regulations and 
become acquainted with the labor laws. 
Don’t sign a lease without having all 
the important concessions on paper. 
Your landlord may be a man of good 
faith, but business should be a written 
as well as verbal understanding. I re¬ 
cently met a woman with a three years’ 
contract on her hands, who found the 
fire laws did not permit more than two 
employees to work in a room where she 
expected to employ seven. Consider 
whether your business may not out¬ 
grow the space allotted to it before you 
become bound by a long-term contract. 
Again you may have ample floor and 
storage space for an annual $100,000 


worth of business, but what good will 
it do you if your factory hands must 
be so limited that they cannot possibly 
compass that amount of work? The 
city girls especially should have these 
rules and regulations in mind. Look 
for fire escapes, find out whether manu¬ 
facturing is allowed on the premises 
you desire, and get everything in the 
lease. The use of heating apparatus of 
any kind is regulated by law, and the 
number of stoves permissible is often 
limited. You may propose to do your 
own work and rent a studio, possibly 
with the intention of dyeing silks, only 
to discover that while your neighbor 
across the hall has a stove, your own in 
that particular house is one more than 
the law allows! I once rented a floor 
in a high class building where the rules 
were somewhat strict. My employees 
were not limited but the owner of the 
building found his fire insurance raised 
annually seven hundred dollars, be¬ 
cause we used a small amount of paint. 
However, permission to use it was in 
the lease—indeed the clause had been 
most carefully inserted—so the land¬ 
lord could only suffer in silence. 

Harboring paint, turpentine, and 
other such inflammables is not only 
prohibited in many buildings, but the 
mere possession of them may increase 
or invalidate your insurance. Before 
the storeroom is full of stock, safe¬ 
guard yourself against loss and call on 
an insurance agent while there is yet 
time. You can’t afford to risk valuable 
materials even for a day, and a policy 
to cover fire risks should be one of 
your first investments. 

More Limiting Laws 

D ON’T engage a single girl, even for 
office help, without first learning 
about the Employers’ Liability Law. 
You can then make your own decision 
as to the wisdom of an employer’s lia¬ 
bility insurance, but remember a gam¬ 
ble with chance often has disastrous 
endings. 

Become thoroughly acquainted with 
the labor laws, and find out what is 
permitted in your own workroom; 
familiarize yourself with the necessity 
of working papers, if you employ girls 
under age. Find out the sanitary re¬ 
quirements of a factory, and learn what 
can and what cannot be manufactured 
under certain conditions. Baby things, 
dolls especially, come under very strict 
rulings, and copies of all these regula¬ 
tions may be had for the asking. Be¬ 
fore buying goods of you, proper estab¬ 
lishments will inquire into your respon¬ 


sibility, and your bills should bear the 
imprint: 

“We guarantee that the goods cov¬ 
ered by this invoice were manufac¬ 
tured in accordance with the Federal 
Child Labor Act of September 1st, 
1916.” 

Always conform to requirements, and 
welcome the inspector to your work¬ 
room. He is there with the best pos¬ 
sible purpose, and should be unable to 
find fault with the competently run 
factory. 

Consider all these requirements in 
arranging the floor space, and remem¬ 
ber your greatest area must be reserved 
for the workroom. Packing, shipping 
and storage must have ample accom¬ 
modations, but the office and sales¬ 
room may easily be combined, for the 
wholesale buyer is not dependent on 
surroundings as is the ultimate con¬ 
sumer. 

Displaying and Packing Goods 

TV /f UCH is to be gained by creating 
IVlnot only an artistic but a pros¬ 
perous atmosphere about your goods, 
and very often a sample room is the 
reflection of our business condition. A 
buyer who calls to give an order, and 
is kept waiting for the missing order 
book or the mislaid pencil, doubts your 
efficiency, and he should rightly have 
grave doubts of mussy or shopworn 
samples, for it shows in serious little 
ways your attitude toward the trader 
The daintier your goods, the piere^im¬ 
portant are the surroundings. Hand¬ 
made baby things that bring high 
prices can’t be staged too well. 

Let your shipping department be one 
in which you take especial pride for it 
is a most important part of the whole¬ 
salers’ business. It is a good plan to 
provide two tables; one for the assem¬ 
bled order, and the other for packing 
and shipping or boxing, though where 
space is precious baskets will help to 
segregate the different shipments. 
Goods ought never to leave the stock 
room without first being checked by 
the stock clerk, who keeps a detailed 
account of every item, and should be 
able to tell, by glancing at her stock 
card, how much of this or that is in 
the storeroom. It is wise to have all 
shipped goods checked by two persons, 
and each package should contain a slip 
stating the number of articles to be 
found in the case. Printed forms are 
usually provided for this purpose, and 
are frequently worded, “Unpack care- 


9 



By giving home work to responsible employees you increase output, 
but not floor space, thus keeping clown overhead. 


fully;-articles packed in this box.” 

Dainty goods should be daintily packed, 
and there should never be any mistakes 
or damage due to negligence in your 
office. Often accidents happen in tran¬ 
sit that cannot be avoided—sometimes 
the loss of an entire package will occur. 
Those who ship by parcel post may 
meet this contingency by obtaining a 
comparatively reasonable insurance 
from a private company to cover these 
risks. This method of safeguarding 
one’s self should not be confused with 
the ordinary parcel post insurance ob¬ 
tained at the post office. It is cus¬ 
tomary for the wholesaler to deliver 
goods free in his town or city. Outside 
this area, shipments are sent collect, 
or “F. O. B.” 

Hiring Help 

T HE workroom in your factory 
should be light and airy. The 
more help you employ, the more neces¬ 
sary this becomes, and litter all about 
means loss of time, space, tools and 
patience, besides increasing the ever 
serious fire hazard. I like to see a 
workroom at closing time, with the 
equipment and materials neatly put 
away, and chairs placed on the tables, 
so the charwoman can sweep out the 
debris without touching anything that 
does not concern her. 

I found when employing supervisors 


that they must understand girls as 
well as jobs. Sometimes they could 
learn to oversee their task very credit¬ 
ably, but without knowledge of human 
nature they were worse than useless. 
Treat your employees with kindness 
and consideration, but do not condone 
the lazy girl who would take advantage 
of any body and everybody, and who 
is soon recognized by her neighbors as 
well as yourself. 

Don’t become intimate and mix the 
personal with the business—it never 
pays. Employing friends is also a dan¬ 
gerous practice, and usually ends dis¬ 
astrously. Women, especially, are less 
trained in the ways of business than 
men, and friendship seldom stands the 
strain. Let your employees thorough¬ 
ly understand your scheme for wages, 
hours, holidays, etc.; make clean cut 
decisions on all such subjects. 

Learn to depend on those who work 
for you, and don’t do their jobs for 
them; if you do, it proves your own in¬ 
efficiency. Remember that the best of 
help may leave you, but just because 
you have grown to depend upon them it 
will not put you in bankruptcy. 

Piece work and weekly work are two 
methods of employment you must try 
out for yourself before deciding which 
is the more fitting in your factory. You 
will soon discover the disadvantages 
and merits of each system. There is 
no reason why a piece-worker should 


10 

































not work side by side with the weekly 
worker in perfect harmony, and indeed, 
I always had this combination in my 
workroom. During the busiest months, 
when floor space is precious, it is often 
advisable to give out home work so as 
to increase your output without rent¬ 
ing extra space. However, you must 
choose responsible people for this kind 
of employment, as merchandise 
“farmed out” has a decided tendency 
to deteriorate. 

Selling by Person or Sample 

R EMEMBER the wholesale season 
begins long before the retail, and 
soon after Christmas salesmen start on 
the road for the following year. In 
July again comes another rush of buy¬ 
ing, and the shop that only begins to 
select its holiday stock by August is 
late indeed. It is necessary for the 
manufacturer to have all lines ready 
nearly twelve months ahead of time, 
if he wishes to take advantage of the 
full season. New items that cannot be 
placed on sale by July have missed the 
bulk of trade and should be kept over 
until time is once more ripe to place 
them on sale. 

There are dozens of ways of putting 
factory made goods on the wholesale 
market, but the individual must choose 
for herself the method best suited to 
her convenience. Certainly personal 
contact with the buyer is the most sat¬ 
isfactory plan when feasible, and a call 
at the shops or large department stores 
is the quickest way of getting your 
goods on sale (see page 13). The 
buyer will call on you even in an out 
of the way district if he thinks it worth 
his while. Failing an opportunity of 
making the personal call, the wisest 
step is to employ a salesman to take 
the line, and do the job for you. If 
this is too expensive, there are innum¬ 
erable travelling salesmen who will 
carry your goods as a “side line” for a 
reasonable commission. The jobber is 
an excellent person to patronize, espe¬ 
cially if your business be far removed 
from a trade center. To him the small 
manufacturer can usually sell the en¬ 
tire factory output, or at least a great 
portion of it, but the price received will 
be slightly lower than when the goods 
are disposed of direct to shops. 

Sending free samples is another 
method frequently adopted, and if your 
items are small and inexpensive, this 
form of exploiting your goods is often 
cheaper than high-priced contracts in 
magazines. Those of us who cannot 
get in direct touch with business, must 


be satisfied with “long distance” trad¬ 
ing. Indeed, my first business venture 
commenced its life in a small country 
town. 

My amateurish attempts to get in 
touch with the trade were clumsy and 
unenlightened, but they should help 
and encourage the beginner for three 
reasons: First, because no business 
knowledge or previous experience is 
necessary for the reader who wishes to 
do likewise; second, because the plan 
adopted was the least expensive con¬ 
ceivable; and, third, because the orders 
resulting from these early efforts came 
simultaneously from places all over 
the United States. 

My method was simple: I wrote to 
as many relatives and friends as pos¬ 
sible in different states, asking for 
names of desirable stores or gift shops 
in their vicinity. The answers were 
not all helpful, but the firms desig¬ 
nated at once received free samples. 
The proprietors of shops will often 
pass the news of a saleable object on 
to friends who keep other stores at far 
distant points, where the disclosing of 
these carefully guarded business sec¬ 
rets will not conflict with their trade. 
At the same time city shops were not 
neglected, and four or five calls on big 
department stores, chosen at random, 
soon swamped a very small enterprise 
with orders. When the factory was 
sufficiently enlarged to care for its ever 
increasing rural and urban customers, 
I made my first business connection 
with a jobber, and signed a contract at 
the same time for a modest amount of 
advertising in the columns of two-suit¬ 
able magazines or journals. 

On Consignment 

T HE small manufacturer will soon 
find herself in a position to decide 
whether she will sell her goods “on 
consignment”—ship perhaps a boxload 
of stock for the summer season to a 
customer who retains the privilege of 
returning what he cannot dispose of 
several months hence. Such deliveries 
are usually made on the 25 per cent 
basis, and the factory in this way sells 
on commission what it has to offer. A 
vendor of pottery might sell in this 
way, for vases can neither fade nor 
muss, and any breakage except in tran¬ 
sit is the fault of the recipient. Do 
not be dazzled by the increased profits 
and sell on consignment, unless for 
some particular reason it suits your 
particular case. The proposition is not 
generally a good one. Many a little 
store will try and make this arrange- 


11 


• T * 


ment with you, but upon learning it is 
against your rules, they will buy out¬ 
right if they really want your goods. 

Put yourself in the place of the small 
shopkeeper and see one reason why 
consignment is not a good business 
method. Suppose he has two toys on 
his counter each retailing at a dollar; 
one is a consignment article, and the 
other he has bought outright. On the 
former his profit is 25 per cent; on the 
latter the profit is at least 40 per cent 
(for the small shop doubles or nearly 
doubles on a dollar article). He is a 
good business man. Which toy will 
he push? Often a beginner may choose 
to introduce goods on the consignment 
basis, and the idea is not a bad one. 
However, it necessitates a change of 
policy very shortly, and reeducating 
customers is a delicate business. 

Other Attractions for Buyers 

A N ALLOWANCE or budget for ad¬ 
vertising should be made in every 
business. In far off places, where 
rents are nominal, you can afford a 
greater amount of advertising than can 
firms located in cities. A few maga¬ 
zines we all read have excellent col¬ 
umns devoted to wholesale wants, but 
the wholesale journals are more suited 
to the bulk of your advertising, and I 
know no better way to start a “long 
distance” business, than to inform the 
trade through this medium exactly 
what you have to offer. 

The “follow up” in such advertising 
is very important. Personal letters 
with description of goods will answer 
the requirements at first, but very soon 
the necessity of a catalogue will arise. 
Time spent in the composition and con¬ 
struction of these booklets is not 
wasted, for it is important that they 
be well written, and describe tersely 
but adequately what you have for sale. 
In writing these pamphlets, always put 
yourself in the place of the recipient. 
It will help you give the information a 
customer requires. Some wholesale 
houses are satisfied to mail customers 
illustrated folders with prices, but for 
the small individual business, a per¬ 
sonal touch in the catalogue is well 
worth a trial. 

An inducement to the new customer 
may be offered in the pages of your 
circular in the form of sample orders. 
Let the new buyer have a ten, fifteen, 
or twenty-five dollar assortment of your 
line at the usual wholesale rates, and 
give him the opportunity to try your 
goods without becoming involved in 
dozens. He takes a chance in ordering 


something he has not seen; you must 
'reciprocate and help him make this 
risk as small as possible. Sample or¬ 
ders are troublesome, and should not 
be considered profit makers. Your ob¬ 
ject is to get your goods before new 
dealers. If you will remember that the 
selection of this assortment is the last 
move toward securing fresh trade, it 
will help you to spend time and 
thought in choosing what is to be sent. 

Remember the inevitable wear and 
tear in shops, and the loss there is to 
the proprietor when he stocks up on 
“dust catchers.” The baby’s soft, 
white, downy stuffed lamb will soil on 
a counter in twenty-four hours unless 
sealed in transparent waxed paper. 
Seasonable gifts, such as Christmas 
cards, Thanksgiving favors, Hal¬ 
lowe’en and Easter goods, must be ap¬ 
proached warily, for they have the 
disadvantage of being salable only one 
day in the year. There are supersti¬ 
tions, too! Butterflies, for instance, 
are the emblem of departing souls; 
some dealers won’t touch them. 

When you display samples, be sure 
to show a complete line. Your goods 
may vary in colors only, and the bed¬ 
spreads may be pink, blue, yellow and 
lavender, but your line must be com¬ 
plete. A series shows up far better 
than a single specimen. Above all, 
watch your prices, and if you cannot 
afford to market something at a sale¬ 
able figure, don’t bother with it at all. 
A mistake many an enthusiast makes 
is allowing her hand labor to compete 
with machine labor. Don’t do it. If 
your goods are handmade, they must 
be manufactured for those persons who 
desire more expensive products, and 
are willing to pay for them. 

Just Common Sense 

D ON’T try to sell goods to too many 
different departments. It will 
drive your salesmen distracted, for 
here are several difficult calls to make, 
on several different buyers, where one 
should suffice. 

You will meet with the most charm¬ 
ing and delightful buyers, and you will 
also come in contact with the petty, 
complaining type that is never satis¬ 
fied. Enjoy the former, forget the lat¬ 
ter—they are soon recognized and eas¬ 
ily dealt with. Don’t get the idea busi¬ 
ness is a strange and mysterious some¬ 
thing that must be learned word for 
word like a dead language. Much of it 
is common sense, and the observant 
woman will soon learn the short cuts, 
routine and customs. 


12 


Selling the Goods 


S ELLING constitutes a job quite by 
itself, and in my own experience 1 
always, mentally at least, divided 
it into two parts: First, selling to the 
customers who came to our office, and, 
second, soliciting orders, and calling on 
the firms who had not as yet noticed 
our existence. Strange to say, selling 
to wholesale customers was my easiest 
task and took the least of my time, for 
their wants were clean-cut and decided. 
1 never urged them to buy, and made 
a practice of telling them quite frankly 
what sold the best. 

My showroom was small, but very 
dainty and comfortable, and everything 
was arranged and displayed to the best 
advantage. 

As weeks went by, I found nearly all 
my employees aspired to “selling” in 
the showroom, especially to the whole¬ 
sale trade. There never was any diffi¬ 
culty in taking care of this popular de¬ 
partment, for an experienced wholesale 
buyer will glance over a line of fifty 
samples, say very little and give you a 
good-sized three-figure order. 

When you call on the wholesale 
buyer in his lair, the problem becomes 
more complicated! And why? When 
the buyer comes to you, he has heard 
of something good you have to dispose 
of, and he is already interested, or he 
would not be there to waste his valu¬ 
able time. He lias come prepared to 
buy. When you call on him, the case is 
different. First, you must gain ap¬ 
proach, then interest him, and then 
sell. Now I am speaking of the larger 
stores with departments, where the 
buyer is an autocrat, and probably my 
first experience will be of interest to 
you. 

On the Trail of the Drummer 

T HE time had come when it ap¬ 
peared advisable to send an agent 
“on the road;” but as the business was 
yet young it did not seem prudent to 
employ the regular sophisticated drum¬ 
mer. I planned to let my ambitious 
secretary try her luck, and believed 
that what she lacked in experience 
would be offset by interest she felt in 
the business. However, before letting 
her go on an extensive tour, there were 
a few ideas on the subject I meant to 
collect for myself; so, packing a suit 
case full of samples I called on my first 
large city department store. 

Nobody had initiated me in the ways 


of selling and I had to learn, after 
many extra steps, that the office I 
sought was usually approached by a 
special elevator, access to which was 
directly on the street. I ascended with 
a crowd of men and followed them into 
a chairless office, afterward familiar as 
the sample-room. Here an employee at 
a desk asks you to fill out a card, and 
frequently gives you a number by 
which you will be called in turn. 

Opening off this uncongenial space 
are three or four little offices, where, 
once the buyer’s attention is gained, 
goods may be displayed for his or her 
edification. The wait in the sample- 
room may be long and fruitless, and 
the card is often returned to you with 
the curt message, “Not today.” I think 
the Emma McChesneys in that delight¬ 
ful story must all have stayed home 
my pioneer morning as a drummer, for 
I felt a very forlorn girl amid a sea of 
men, too preoccupied even to look at 
each other kindly. 

Five Minutes—and an Order 

R EALLY “on the road,” the follow¬ 
ing week now seems like a dream 
loaded with experiences and sensations, 
relieved here and there with touches 
of human nature that made life inter¬ 
esting. 

After nights and days of intensive 
work, hurried meals, and incessant 
train travel, I found myself at last in 
the office of a lady buyer in one of the 
important cities on my route. Her na¬ 
tion-wide reputation, her fame for be¬ 
ing “one of the cleverest there was” 
and “the hardest to get at,” had never 
reached me; but a big burly drummer, 
waiting his turn, acquainted me with 
the cheerless prospect. 

“Seen her before?” he said. “Got an 
appointment?” Then, rather pityingly 
in answer to mv negatives, “Guess you 
don’t know what you’re up against; 
you’re new at the game, aren’t you?” 

Yes, I was new at the game; I didn’t 
know the A B C’s of “drumming,” but 
I learned then and there to forget the 
horrors of the sample-room, for the 
burly giant proceeded to be human. 

“If you get in to see her, and if she’ll 
look at your stuff, you’re in luck,” he 
said; “but show it to her quick, she’s 
not one of your slow thinkers!” Then 
he jotted down the addresses of two 
of the next best stores in town, the 
names of the buyers, and their weak- 


13 



I packed a suit case full of samples and called on my first large de¬ 
partment store , where the buyers are usually autocrats. 


nesses—if they had any! “Try them 
next if she turns you down,” he whis¬ 
pered, and passed in to his fate. Going 
out a minute later he had time to 
murmur, “Got the go-by; hope you’ve 
better luck.” 

I entered in my turn, and the buyer 
left the room while I unpacked, as if 
moments were too precious to waste. 
Returning, she gave one fleeting glance 
at my thirty-odd samples, and scribbled 
an order on a piece of paper. “This 
if you won’t call on any more stores in 
the neighborhood. And I’ll feature 
your goods.” Her terms, or nothing; 
take it, or leave it! But what a hand¬ 
some order lay before me! In less than 
five minutes she had seen, judged, and 
conquered—and left me to pack! This 
clever woman had ordered lavishly of 
six out of the thirty samples, and 
wouldn’t touch the rest; but her judg¬ 
ment was vindicated later, as they 
proved my best-selling six that year. 
As Christmas approached she fulfilled 
her promise, and one of the big shop 
windows in this particular store was so 
full of our things that it looked like a 
corner in the home stockroom. 

After figuring up the entire cost of 
the trip on my return home, I totaled 
the orders, and decided the venture had 
paid very well indeed My ambitious 
secretary should have her opportunity, 


and start out on a far more extensive 
tour. We pored over a map of the 
United States, and worked up a route 
that included Delaware, Maryland, 
Pennsylvania, Missouri, Michigan, Illi¬ 
nois, as well as a hurried trip through 
New England if things went as well 
as we hoped. 

My own saleswoman on the road; an¬ 
other business milestone reached! She 
started forth with the little knowledge 
we could muster between us, but she 
had ambition and courage, and was 
quick to learn. Three weeks later when 
she came back, very happy and success¬ 
ful, but very tired, another amateur 
was struck off the list. She had mas¬ 
tered the A B C’s of the full-fledged 
traveling salesman. 

How very simple it all sounds on 
paper; how alluring are the tales of 
success we hear on every side. But 
there are discouraging days as well as 
the golden days, and if you are not 
ready to meet each new problem with 
a stiff upper lip don’t go into business 
at all. 

Take a plain job if you must! Be 
some other person’s responsibility; it’s 
a lot easier and has its advantages. 
With us, there are new problems to be 
solved every day—and without them 
business would, be dull and boring to 
the born wholesaler. 


14 


























If You Choose Mail Order 


N O class of labor is more deserving 
of an occupation than the woman 
who must devote part of her time 
to the home where trade may not in¬ 
trude. Clearly it is a case of irregular 
hours, and staying by the fireside as 
well. A rather knotty problem to un¬ 
ravel, and yet there is at least one 
very feasible solution—the mail order 
business. 

This is rightfully a proposition for 
the home manufacturer, who’s slogan 
should be “Direct from producer to 
consumer.” One must not expect a 
part time job of small proportions to 
bring in an amazing income, but prop¬ 
erly nurtured, such an enterprise 
should be a thing of slow and steady 
growth. Great firms, with whose names 
we are all familiar, have started simi¬ 
lar projects in equally modest ways; 
but. they have grown, and their original 
little folders have, with time and ex¬ 
perience, swelled in size and import¬ 
ance, and become volumes! 

The manufacturing problems have al¬ 
ready been covered in the article on 
page 6, so that little need be added to 
this subject in the way of advice or 
warning. Be wise, however, in choos¬ 
ing for your line something you under¬ 
stand and do particularly well. Let 
your customers have reason to exclaim 
on receipt of their order: “Here is 
something worth while, at a fair price; 
let us pass on the news to our friends.” 

Capitalizing Your Postmark 

R EMEMBER, too, varieties of mer- 
/ chandise should not be mixed, or 
your folder will lose interest. Sell 
edibles with edibles, for instance—they 
are in a class by themselves. Adopt a 
wearing apparel line if you choose, but 
refrain from confusing it with gift 
ideas, for holiday presents and novel¬ 
ties are things apart, and are entitled 
to a catalogue of their own. 

Tf possible, let your offerings to the 
consumer represent the part of the 
country in which you live. Your very 
postmark can be turned into an asset. 
It is far more convincing to buy Flori¬ 
da oranges from Florida, Canadian 
homespuns from Canada, and maple 
sugar candy from the states in which 
the sugar maple grows. The purchaser 
likes to please her imagination in com¬ 
pany with her thrift, and where better 
can the best be obtained at the lowest 
price, than from its source? 


Clearly it is more profitable to give 
patrons a selection to choose from as 
it increases the financial returns out 
of all proportion to the additional cost 
in advertising, but in spite of this fact, 
with one good item of acknowledged 
worth, I should not hesitate to make a 
humble beginning to-morrow. A line 
of possibly a dozen items is usually 
within our means, but an excellent 
plan for the woman of few ideas is to 
combine with a neighbor and issue a 
joint catalogue. Groups of part time 
workers could assemble their forces, 
and cooperate to mutual advantage. 
Such an arrangement would not only 
add to the interest of the folder, but 
greatly lessen expense. Financial re¬ 
turns could be kept separate if so de¬ 
sired. 

The All-Important Catalogue 

W HATEVER line you adopt, launch 
your advertising campaign and 
issue your catalogue just before the 
heaviest buying season. Toys or gifts 
should not miss the Christmas trade, 
and the yearly folder must reach pro¬ 
spective buyers before the holiday spir¬ 
it has arrived at its climax. Be ready 
to reply to orders promptly, with neat¬ 
ly packed deliveries. 

Correspondence will arise between 
you and your customer. Welcome this 
opportunity of getting in touch, and, 
answer all queries in a helpful^profes- 
sional way. Keep on hand a supply 
of business paper (stamped with name 
and address) for this purpose, and let 
your notes be well written—typed, if 
possible. 

The catalogue in a mail order busi¬ 
ness is of tremendous importance, for 
this little folder must present to buy¬ 
ers, in the best possible light, your 
shop, your sales force, and the goods 
itself. It is therefore not unreason¬ 
able to spend both extra time and capi¬ 
tal on this major portion of the invest¬ 
ment, and no amount of thought is 
wasted in compiling these offerings to 
the outside world. 

It is usually not only wisdom but. 
necessity that keeps our first pam¬ 
phlets small and unassuming, but the 
very size can be turned into an asset 
by letting the folder express selection 
and quality rather than quantity. Im¬ 
bue your catalogue with the specialty 
shop idea that is so popular at present. 
Dainty surroundings imply dainty 


15 


goods, and inferior grade paper with 
cheap print is the poorest kind of ad¬ 
vertising if you are seeking the better 
class trade. The cover (if there be a 
cover) should be well chosen and re¬ 
fined. Absolute simplicity in design is 
always safe. 

It is often desirable to adopt a busi¬ 
ness name that adds to the interest, 
and nine people out of ten will look 
twice at 

Baby Bunting’s Catalogue 
of Layettes 

while 

Amanda Thompson 
Babies’ Wear 

would fail to attract attention. Like¬ 
wise “Polly Porter’s Presents” neatly 
suggests gifts, or “Judy’s Jams” and 
“Delia’s Pantry” each proclaim in two 
words the fact that the contents have 
to do with kitchen cunning. 

Care should always be taken to de¬ 
scribe goods accurately and helpfully, 
for the long distance buyer has every 
right to receive exactly what is adver¬ 
tised. However, accuracy need not im¬ 
ply dullness, and the rather drab cata¬ 
logue of yesterday is being replaced by 
a more readable affair to-day. Where 
“number 28” was formerly mentioned 
as the 

RAG GIRL DOLL 

Washable, comes in fast colors, 
pink or blue, 10 inches high, price 
$1.00. 

We are now more apt to read: 

“BOXXIE BETTY” 

The huggable rag doll that baby 
loves! Mother likes it, too, be¬ 
cause it is washable and sanitary. 
Fast colors, either pink or blue, 10 
inches high. Price $1.00. 

When our “word pictures” are 
painted to the best of our ability, and 
we have attached to each item the very 
necessary measurements, color scheme, 
and price, there remains yet one thing 
we can use to convince the buyer—a 
photographic reproduction. There is 
no way of getting around this really in¬ 
dispensable method of exploiting mail 
order goods, and the good business 
woman will avoid practising what will 
prove to be a foolish economy. A line 
of preserves or jams, or things that 
have to do only with taste possibly 
would not suffer from lack of suitable 
cuts, but even so, it adds interest to 
see a picture of the manufacturer’s 
tidy kitchen, or neat store room shelf. 
On the other hand, things of artistic 
value are greatly the losers if not illus¬ 
trated. A little foldbr that I recently 


compiled, which brought in very satis¬ 
factory returns, was liberally provided 
with photographic reproductions, and 
but two items which had not taken 
kindly to the camera were unaccom¬ 
panied by cuts. These numbers, al¬ 
though proved to be equally “good 
sellers” in the open market, fell far 
behind in catalogue popularity. 

To obtain customers for such a busi¬ 
ness, advertising contracts are essen¬ 
tial, but a small amount of space in 
magazines and papers will serve this 
purpose. An expense it certainly is, 
but the investment need not be an un¬ 
duly heavy one if you use the few lines 
at your disposal to the best possible 
advantage. Where words are limited, 
push but one of the catalogue numbers. 
Choose your most attractive and sal¬ 
able article and do not omit mention¬ 
ing “catalogue” at the end of your 
advertisement. Vogue, Vanity Fair and 
Harper’s Bazar are all good magazines 
in which to advertise mail order goods. 
The bright, alert business woman adds 
to her invaluable mailing list in 
every conceivable way. She works for 
it, and is continually seeking custom¬ 
ers by individual means. The greater 
the diligence the greater the prosperity. 
A clever acquaintance, a maker of in¬ 
fants’ wear, recently told me that one 
of her morning tasks was scanning the 
birth column in the big city papers. 
These, and the social notices, backed 
by directories of addresses proved to 
be an invaluable field. And why? All 
business men know it is easier to sow 
seed on fertile ground; births, wed¬ 
dings and receptions or gatherings of 
any kind bring a raft of advertise¬ 
ments from photographers, confection¬ 
ers, and so forth. 

Financial Features 

4 SHORT paragraph of instructions 
and terms should be printed in 
each circular. It is customary to sug¬ 
gest that payments be made by check, 
post office money order, or express or¬ 
ders, although some firms open charge 
accounts. If remittances are sent in 
cash, letters should be registered. 
C. O. D. orders are often accepted when 
accompanied by a deposit covering one 
quarter of the bill. Shipments are 
sent to the consumer express collect, or 
parcel post. If the postage amounts to 
less than twenty-five cents, packages 
are frequently delivered free, but in 
this case see that catalogue prices 
cover costs. It is reasonable to per¬ 
mit unsatisfactory goods to be returned 
at the buyer’s expense, and money re¬ 
funded. 


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